Technical Abstract:
Foreign and emerging animal diseases such as Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) and Classical Swine Fever (CSF) can have devastating social and economical effects and represent important threats to US agriculture and food supply. FMD and CSF are highly contagious viral diseases of livestock. Reemergence of FMD in Europe, Asia and South America and its costly control emphasizes the need for better prevention and control tools. The ARS-FADRU performs research developing novel tools to assist in the prevention and control of FADs if they were introduced to US livestock. The research program focuses on viral genomics, virus-host interactions at the cellular and molecular levels, from the route of entry to the cell receptor interaction, viral replication and exit from the cell. This information is used to find targets for novel detection, vaccines, anti-viral therapeutics that can be used as outbreak intervention tools to prevent infection of susceptible animals providing feasible alternatives to the destruction of millions of animals. Rapid diagnostic tests, antivirals, marker vaccines and companion diagnostic tests that distinguish vaccinated from infected animals are being developed in-house and through collaborations with other federal agencies, international FAD laboratories, academia and industry partners. Products under development include highly sensitive and specific real-time PCR tests for various FADs capable of rapid detection using portable equipment; safe and effective marker vaccines against CSF and subunit vaccines against FMD capable of protecting cattle in 7 days post vaccination; and antivirals that can induce complete protection against FMD in as early as 24 h post treatment.